


Vengeance

by RogerTaylorCanRawMe



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn, Steve Rogers / Nomad / Rogue Steve AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-03 02:53:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14559261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogerTaylorCanRawMe/pseuds/RogerTaylorCanRawMe
Summary: Your gut sank, knowing that one of America's greatest heroes had fallen into the hands of SHIELD, or, more specifically, Hydra. Can you get to him in time? And can you get him to join your side to put an end to Hydra once and for all?





	1. The Thaw

**Author's Note:**

> Yer girl got bored and decided to drop a Nomad / present day Rogue Steve Rogers AU, totally unintentionally. Thanks for reading.

When they found Captain America in the ice, your stomach sank, desperately hoping against the inevitable. And then you found out that he had fallen into the hands of SHIELD. That changed everything. With one drop of his blood, they could do it. Successfully, this time.

News footage rolled across old wartime clips of Cap himself in action, public reaction to his discovery and statements from people who had no right to wade in on Captain America’s role in the modern world. It made your blood boil, but this was the day you had been waiting for. 

You rose from your armchair and wandered over to the back wall of your living room, running a hand over the hundreds of tiny pieces of paper pinned to a grid of corkboards. Each small segment joined together with string and thumbtacks, tracing an elaborate plan of action to bring down SHIELD once and for all. 

The next day, you showed up early for work. You dressed the same, wore your hair the same, carried yourself just as you would any other day, but you had a renewed sense of purpose. The buzz was contagious, having missed Cap’s explosive return to consciousness before dawn, the stories carried from room to room, department to department. You absorbed them all, piecing together whatever semblance of truth you could. 

It happened quickly. You had served SHIELD for longer than you could stomach, following orders for years, down to the letter and earning yourself a level of trust within the organisation that was unparalleled by anyone in your rank. With trust came wider clearance and the knowledge of how to subvert SHIELD’s surveillance systems. A direct line to exactly where you wanted. All it took was one retinal scan and you were face to face with him. 

He looked weary, having served the last 48 hours as SHIELD’s own living pin cushion, as he stood up to greet you. 

“Captain Rogers, I need you to come with me,” you said quietly. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Steve asked. 

The pair of you strode from the room confidently, Steve two or three paces behind. “No time for introductions, if we keep you here much longer, you’re only going to be more at risk,” you explained.

“At risk?”

You stopped and turned to face him, close enough to whisper. “I don’t know what crap Fury fed you about SHIELD being at the forefront of global protection and security, but they are not your friends, and they sure as hell aren’t here to protect you. You stay here and they’ll prime you into the finest weapon Hydra could only dream of. Come with me. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. And if you still have doubts, I’ll drop you right back at SHIELD’s door where you belong. The world needs you, Cap.”

“What does Hydra have to do with this?” Steve asked, following you into a deserted stairwell.

“I can’t tell you right now,” you began, removing your phone from your pocket to frantically type the rest of your message. When you were done, you thrust it into Steve’s eye line. “Ears everywhere.”

Steve’s jaw clenched as he considered all of his options. His eyes darted from one corner of the room to another, then back to you. 

“We need to hurry, Captain Rogers.”

Steve nodded and descended the stairs by your side in silence. 

Two flights had passed before you reached the exit you were looking for. You pressed your face to the retinal scanner and the door clicked open, opening out on to a quiet grey, underground parking lot. Your car was parked straight ahead, not even twenty paces in front of you. You hurried towards it and yanked open one of its rear doors. 

“Stay low, Cap,” you said, ushering him in. 

Uneasily, Steve got in and huddled himself out of view in the spacious SUV.

The journey back to your place was effortless. SHIELD only search incoming vehicles, never anything outbound. Neither of you said a word. After a calm, yet swift, ten minutes, you had arrived. 

Steve seemed like he was holding his breath the entire time he was with you. Dying to ask questions. Every time he made a sound, you hushed him straight away, even in the lift up to your apartment. It was inconspicuous enough that you were certain you would never be found. 

When your door closed behind you, Steve’s shoulders finally dropped as he breathed a sigh of relief. 

“There’s a lot I need to ask you if I’m supposed to trust you, you know that, don’t you?” he said. 

“I understand.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m an agent. People in the field call me Lux.”

“Are you with SHIELD?”

“Gone rogue.”

“Hydra?”

“Certainly not.”

“What’s your play?”  
“It’s simple, Captain Rogers. I’ve dedicated my entire career to taking down those who mean harm to the world. And Hydra? I’d like to get rid of them for good.”

“I thought Hydra died with the Red Skull?” Steve asked, turning his back on you to wander through your apartment.

You shook your head. “Zola survived. When SHIELD was founded, they thought they could use him to their advantage during the Cold War. And then Hydra grew, like a parasite.”

“And the Cube?”

You shrugged, “I don’t know anything about the Tesseract. But you see why I couldn’t let you stay there?”

Steve nodded, wandering over to your wall. “You’ve done your research on Hydra, I’ll give you that,” he said, yanking a German newspaper clipping of Zola from its position in the myriad of information. “This plan of yours. How do I factor in on that?” he asked, approaching you again. 

“I can’t take them down on my own. And you want them gone as much as I do.”

Steve studied you for a moment. It was as though he could see all of those tiny little secrets, eating away at you. The silent judgment was to much.

“They took something from you. They did the same to me. I need your help before it’s too late for any of us. They get one drop of your blood, or the Cube, and they can exact their will upon billions. And I don’t think you’re the type of guy who could stand by and watch while they do.”

Steve chewed at his lower lip, breathing a heavy sigh. “You’re right, I’m not.”

You nodded, glad he was seeing sense.

“When do we start?”


	2. So You're Both Captains?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve adjusts to the modern world while on the run. Eventually, you both come face to face with two of Hydra's top-tier thugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pacing issues, I know. Thanks for reading!

“So you’re saying that Howard and Peggy founded that?” Steve asked with wide eyes. 

“Yes,” you began, “but I’m almost certain even they had no idea what would happen with Zola. I met Peggy towards the end and she was so full of goodness.”

Steve nodded. “She always was. How did you find out about it?”

You sighed, placing your cutlery on either side of your untouched plate. “My family weren’t exactly well off. I couldn’t afford college. Or a place of my own. The army seemed like the best place for me. I care about my country. I wanted to serve. That was my choice. I figured I could send some money home, help my family out. So when the opportunity came up to take part in sponsored ‘drug trials,’ to earn more money, I took it.”

“What did they do to you?”

“They basically took ownership of everything that I am,” you shrugged like it was nothing. “There’s plenty more just like me, waiting it out for the next illegal war, too.” You caught sight of the President on the television in the corner of the room and jabbed your finger towards his image, “and with that guy in charge, I reckon it won’t be long before we’re all shipped off to do America’s killing.” You turned to face Steve again. “And you’ll be the poster boy.”

Steve turned his attention towards the television, where the President was spouting a never-ending stream of xenophobic rhetoric. Walls and wars. Steve looked dejected as he listened to the mouthpiece for his country’s will. “I can’t believe they made that guy President.”

“It’s not all bad.”

Steve raised his eyebrows. 

“They’re making new Star Wars movies now. I used to love those as a kid.”

“Star Wars? What’s that?”

“You’ve got a lot of catching up to do, Cap!”

—————————————————-  
“Steve!” You whispered, gently poking his ribs. “Steve, you gotta get up. We need to get going soon!”

Steve, who had spent the night on a sofa much too small for him, heaved himself up, rubbing his eyes. He mumbled something about breakfast. But a brief glance of red, white and blue caught him off guard. Suddenly, his eyes pinged open. “What are those?” he asked. 

“Those are some prototype uniforms SHIELD were designing when they discovered you,” you explained, handing over the uniforms.

Steve looked down at them, holding up a navy and grey number. “You weren’t kidding about them wanting to put me back out into the field. Bulletproof?”

You nodded. “Of course.” You held up the final item, strapping it to your own arm. “I’m not really into shields myself. I’m more of a knives and guns kind of girl, but this is nice. I just feel so… righteous.”

Steve looked up, open mouthed. 

“You’re not Captain America without the shield, right?” you laughed. 

“I’m not even sure if I wanna be Captain America anymore if I’m honest. Plus the shield, I reckon it’d draw more attention than we need.”

You huffed. “Fine, but we’re taking this with us. You never know who’s gonna start shooting at us.”

“Sure,” Steve feigned a smile, “you got a suit too?”

“Yeah,” you shrugged, “but I’m saving the big reveal for later.”

Steve shook his head, his smile broadening. “You know I can’t go around wearing combat gear forever right?”

“I’ve got that covered too,” you said, making your way to the kitchen, “look in the bags at your feet.”

Steve rustled through the pile of bags at his feet, pulling out bundles of fabric and holding them up against himself. “How did you find such a good fit?” he said picking up another t-shirt and eyeing it carefully.

“SHIELD knows everything about you,” you began, holding two fingers in the air, precisely seven inches apart. “When I say everything, I mean everything.”

Steve appeared startled. “That’s not weird at all.”

——————-  
It was almost a five hour drive from DC to Brooklyn. Torture for Steve who made his disdain for modern music abundantly clear at twenty minute intervals, while asking you why you had packed so many guns, over and over again. 

“I told you Steve. Brute strength and good looks just aren’t gonna cut it when SHIELD send their thugs after us,” you explained with as much positivity as you could possibly muster.

“What happens if things go wrong?” Steve asked quietly. 

You were much more hardened, after all, you had been planning this all along. “Best case? We die. Worst case? We’re weaponised lab rats for the rest of our lives.”

“That’s a little black and white, don’t you think?”

“I have a couple of workarounds if it all goes to shit.”  
Steve sighed, “guess I’m just gonna have to take your word for it.”

You clenched your jaw, opting to ride out the majority of Jersey with just the radio for company. 

Then the music cut out. A special news bulletin. Captain America had gone missing and the FBI were mounting a search for him. He was with a female, a rogue SHIELD agent. Both known to be volatile. 

Volatile? Seriously? In your mindset, you were much more than volatile. But the great Steve Rogers? Well, your first impressions of him left a lot to be desired. The man couldn’t hurt a fly. Not exactly right hand man material. He didn’t really seem like he was up to this particular murder mission.

Steve trained his eyes on you. “What now?”

“We need to keep going. Don’t worry, Cap. They may be watching but you can bet your ass they’re at least three steps behind us at all times.”

“And you think going to Brooklyn is a safe bet?”

“Yes.”

“You know that’s home for me, right? That’s the first place they’re gonna look.”

“I have a safe house and a network out there. You leave the strategics to me.”

“And we’ll be safe?”

“For now.”

“I still think we should be going out west.”

You reached Brooklyn without a hitch. 

————————-  
Sleeping was never your strong suit, but after the day you and Steve had had, it seemed second nature to close your eyes and let your brain shut off. Plotting and planning had fried both of your brains and you just couldn’t think anymore. He had worn you down to your last nerve. But here, tucked up on a rickety old twin bed you were at peace. Midnight hadn’t even rolled around and you were down for the count. 

Even when you woke up in the middle of the night, it was like you were so weary that you just couldn’t engage. You couldn’t think as you were being dragged through the hall by your arms, or being strung up on to a chair in the living room in total darkness. The fear had bedded itself into your chest, though. But you just coasted, trying to readjust. 

It took what felt like an eternity.   
You could almost make out a figure, standing in front of you. Your ears attuned to the sound. A thick Russian accent. A flash of red. She moved forward, into focus. You could see that same smug smirk plastered across her pointed features; your stomach dropped as the gravity of your predicament set in. You knew her. 

She bent over, getting nose to nose with you and reached out to sweep away a rogue strand of your hair. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she reassured, “it’ll be over before you know it, Agent Lux.” It felt like she was gloating. 

“Where’s Steve?” you slurred.

“Company is coming,” she said, backing away from you, “we’ll take care of your friend.”

You saw something moving behind her. Getting closer. 

The woman in front of you hardened her stance in front of you, “hold still.”

Just before she could land a hit, she dropped. Right in front of you. Clutching the wound on her neck.

Steve stood over her body as she writhed. All he could do was watch, powerful and powerless all the same. In utter disbelief. 

“Steve,” you began, your voice tinged with seriousness, “you need to untie me and we need to go. Now.”

He looked at you for a moment and nodded. Then he got to work, gently and hastily freeing you from your binds. 

“Should we suit up?” Steve asked.

“No time,” you said, struggling on to your feet, “grab all our bags.”

Steve flew around the apartment, bundling together each and every holdall, then you left together, clutching at his arm. 

Just as you headed for the stairwell, you were stopped by yet another reminder of your time at SHIELD. He stood at the door like a sentinel, guarding it, making sure no one was leaving the apartment block that night. You could only see his eyes, but the lifeless hatred was there. You couldn’t afford for this fight to get messy, not here, and not now. 

You dropped your bags to the ground and took a deep breath. 

Again, another familiar Russian accent. “Where is she?”

Steve’s eyes darted between you and the masked man. 

You desperately tried to muster the courage to tell him about his companion. The two were inseparable. This was his achilles heel and you knew it. Choosing to exploit it for your own gain you proudly announced that she was dead in your apartment and that her body was still there if he wanted to say goodbye. He wouldn’t be getting even with you, not right now.

He sank into himself and moved quickly, somehow defeated with neither you nor Steve striking a single blow. He parted you like a bullet and marched towards the apartment, leaving you and Steve standing there alone. 

A look of confusion spread across Steve’s face. “Who were they?”

“Two of Hydra’s top tier thugs. And we need to go… again.”

———————————-  
“So you’re both captains?” Steve asked, quirking his eyebrow.


End file.
